A look back: Just Prior to Settlement of Olympia

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The early explorers to the South Puget Sound area found the area to be lush, with abundant wildlife, fish, and other natural resources.  They also found the area occupied by the local Native, who, at least at first, were friendly enough.

Native Americans of the Nisqually and Squaxon Tribes built a settlement of long houses at a series of waterfalls on the Deschutes River they called Tum-wa-ta for strong water.

Two miles downstream, the river emptied into Puget Sound where a neck of land resembled a bear at high tide. The natives called the peninsula Cheet-woot for bear and they camped there winters to gather shellfish and trade with one another.